Fabyan Villa and Lunch with a College BFF…

  I gotta open this blog by welcoming another blogger brave enough to try and follow the Cave Dwellers.. If you can “follow” along, you are doing better than most. Welcome aboard to Merri and Steve of Jammin' Along .  I’m likin’ your name and jammin’ along with ya!

  Friday, I met a dear old college friend for lunch.  If you read my blogs, she is the one who took me to the Turtle House last year..This year, she took me for a private tour of Fabyan Villa and Japanese Gardens, located along the Fox River in Geneva IL.  

 

 

My great friend, Peggy Fox.  We had lunch at Noodles and Co. in Geneva, and then she drove us over to the Fabyan Villa.  She works there as a docent and gives tours of the Japanese gardens on the grounds of the park.  We just pulled into the drive that said “authorized vehicles only”..She has that power…and walked around the calming and peaceful beauty so prevalent in Oriental gardens…

 

They give tours of the villa too, but it wasn’t open Friday…That will be another trip…

A Brief History...

“The Fabyan Villa was home to Colonel George and Nelle Fabyan from 1905-1939. Riverbank, the name they bestowed upon their property, was initially their summer escape from Chicago. They hired Frank Lloyd Wright in 1907 to enlarge and re-model the existing farmhouse and shortly thereafter, took up permanent residence at the Villa, as they called their home. They acquired 300+ acres, creating a country estate which soon became a lavish showplace complete with fountains, gardens, a Roman-style swimming pool, a Dutch-style windmill, a private zoo, a working lighthouse, a boathouse, tennis courts, and more.  The Fabyans pursued their varied interests on their estate, including horticulture, animal husbandry, and scientific research.”

“The Fabyans' Japanese Garden:       Installed c. 1910, the Japanese Garden is a tranquil oasis where history melds with nature and design. This historic garden affords the opportunity to experience the uniqueness of Japanese gardening and enjoy a moment of harmony with nature while strolling the winding path of this 100 year-old site.”

“When visiting the Villa Museum, you discover the Fabyans' uniquely fascinating legacy. The Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie-style house contains the Fabyans' private collection of Asian artifacts, natural history specimens, original furniture and more! Documents and photographs detail George's involvement in the Treaty of Portsmouth and Japanese international relations, the Bacon/Shakespeare controversy, code-breaking that significantly influenced both World Wars and pioneering research and development in acoustics.   The captivating combination of significant architecture, military intrigue, Japanese culture and personal exploration makes the Fabyan Villa Museum a unique experience for all ages.”

 

 

The above photos are the arbor that leads toward the Fox River. In the first photo, you can see the river in the background of the arbor. This arbor is covered with Sweet Autumn Clematis vine (See, Peggy, I actually remembered this!)…The photos do not do it justice…and it’s smell was heavenly…

 

 

 

Left, is a Weeping Spruce tree, thought to be over 100 years old. Right, looking through Hydrangeas at the bridge…

I am standing in front of  a rock wall made of Wisconsin Limestone..and right, is a tile embedded in the wall where a fountain once was…This stone is amazing..

 

I gotta say, this cement table , left, looks like some sort of sacrificial ceremonial table..Notice the figures sculpted into it…The bench Peg is sitting on is quite unusual, too. Mr. Fabyan had a taste for the bizzare and different…FYI, above the photo of Peg is what they call a Snow Lantern…she just told me, so I thought I’d share that..thanks for getting my back, Peg…

This was engraved on the top of the table…looks like a vulture to me…WEEEEEIRD!

I highly recommend this place if you get to Geneva, IL…There is a windmill on the property, which we never got to….

 

 

The Fabyan Dutch Windmill is an authentic working Dutch windmill, dating back to the 1850’s.  It was constructed by German craftsmen on a site near Lombard IL in the mid 19th century.  By the 20th century, it was falling to ruin, and in 1914 Mr. Fabyan purchased it for $8000 and had it moved to his estate…It has since undergone a totally revamping ..I have seen this when I was younger and we lived in Elgin, and my feet were not up to walking too far, so we didn’t revisit the windmill..Like I said..that’s another trip..

Well, this blog has rambled on waaaaay too long. I want to say a huge shout out to my BFF, Peggy, for a most wonderful afternoon….I hope I got everything correct, Peg…I’ll never be a docent..I’m having trouble just be decent!!

 

 

 

THANK YOU, MY DEAR FRIEND…HEY!!..WE WERE TOGETHER ALL AFTERNOON AND NEVER GOT ARRESTED ONCE..WE MUST BE LOSING OUR TOUCH!!!

 

 

 

 

“BEST FRIENDS:  THEY KNOW HOW CRAZY YOU ARE, BUT STILL CHOOSE TO BE SEEN WITH YOU IN PUBLIC”

IT CANNOT RAIN ON OUR PARADE…NO SIREE!

  Sunday it was a rainy day at the Cave.  This was not helped by the Chicago Bears looking like big drips while attempting to thwart the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees….Obviously , the offensive line did NOT get the memo that they were suppose to PROTECT our quarterback, not try to get him killed!!  We still can’t believe Cutler didn’t get his bell rung and end up with a concussion by the end of that horrific game…

McGuyver refused to let the “ass-whooping” our Chicago Bears got get him down…He also refused to let the rain dampen his spirits…

McGuyver’s wants are simple…a campfire and a Busch Lite…

He found the biggest log we had in the garage, threw it on the fire and sat down..Notice it had quit raining…temporarily.  Shortly after that photo was taken, the rain Gods began their bucket brigade, and..what the heck.. we both were outside in the rain with our umbrella…Gene Kelly would be proud..if only we had a lamp post…..sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

But…. apparently the Cave Dwellers weren’t the only “hard core” camper wanta be’s in the neighborhood…

 

 

Our great neighbors, Deb and John, came over to join the Crazy Caves and their pursuit of a fun day, despite Mother Nature’s attempt to foil it….

We are blessed to have great and fun loving neighbors..(even though we are old enough to be their parents, they humor us….)

 

 

Please take note of my “ensemble”…Deb and John have lived next door to the Caves for almost 10 years..and they are accustomed to my fine sense of fashion…

Good neighbors are very hard to find, and we are lucky to have Deb and John.  Deb is the one who gave my my first chandelier…and John is right there to help out when McGuyver needs it…and..  IF McGuyver ASKS FOR HELP…What is with MEN and their pride??

 

 

OK, that’s all I have today…It is sunny and 70 degrees today, but the bottom is suppose to fall out of this weather tomorrow…but…WE AREN’T SCARED..WE HAVE A WAY OF DEALING WITH ADVERSE CONDITIONS…FRIENDS, FUN AND A CAMPFIRE!!!

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…
it’s about learning how to dance in the rain!” –Vivian Greene

Finally Cleaned Up the Hiker..inside..

  I started my day yesterday at 7AM, getting ready for my Ya Ya’s and their hubbies to come for coffee.  McGuyver left the house early to help his friend hang some garage doors…sounds like lots of fun, no?  My coffee  group arrived about 8AM, and we had a real gab fest until about 9:30AM…

  After they all left, I decided it was time to tackle the HitchHiker and clean up the inside.  When we “landed” at home last December…and after McGuyver clocked his head and ended up in the ER, I neglected to tidy up the Hiker after we finally unloaded it.  Can I just say that UN loading it is not nearly as much fun as LOADING it!!! No sirree Bob!!  I had been carrying stuff out there for the past few weeks and just setting it inside the door to put away another day.  Well,  yesterday was that “another day”…

I cleaned and wiped out cupboards, under the bed (our storage area), dusted, vacuumed, swept, washed out the sinks, shower and bathroom.  We still had anti-freeze in the lines…and it will stay there until we leave.  We never know exactly how late in the season we will be pulling out of our drive.

Friday, I got ambitious and cleaned my chandeliers.  This usually means that I take each crystal down and wash, rinse and dry them by hand.  That involves standing up on a chair and making a gazillion trips to take down and rehang them all..NOT FUN>…This year, since my feet are still a huge issue (no, I won’t even go THERE!), I decided to try one of the spray chandelier cleaners.  You put some newspaper underneath the chandelier, and lay a garbage bag over that..then you spray from the bottom up until the thing is dripping wet…Oh, did I neglect to say…make sure the chandelier is NOT ON!!!

  I think both of them turned out pretty darn good…and it was really easy.  When we are gone for the winter, I put a garbage bag or pillow case over them and tie it up tight so they don’t get dusty.  Yes, I know..I am quite enamored with my lighting…some might say obsessed…and they are closer to right than wrong

Last night was “date night” and I wore my Brian Urlacher Chicago Bears  jersey.  His  mother died a few days ago, and her funeral was yesterday.  The coach, Lovie Smith, the GM,  the owner, and lots of players flew to New Mexico to be with Brian for his mom’s funeral….She was only 51 years old, and died unexpectedly..I am sure it was very hard on the family, but No. 54 will be donning his jersey and playing today against New Orleans…This should be a very emotional game on many levels, and you can be sure McGuyver and I will be glued to our TV….

  After our usual trip to the Moose Lodge for a cocktail last night, we had KFC and spaghetti for dinner.  I had some left over sauce, and I cooked up some noodles…Family style chicken is what we call that here in Illinois..chicken and spaghetti…YUMMO!! And I deserved some carbs, after getting the Hiker all spiffy for her Winter trip South….hopefully!!

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours."  ~Robert Byrne

Fairly quiet at the Cave….

  This week has been, so far, pretty quiet.  The Cave Dwellers have recovered from the Sandwich Fair, the traffic and dust..aaaachoo!..well somewhat.  Our weather has cooled down into the lower 60’s and tonight it could get into the upper 30’s in the Western Suburbs (that would be US!)…I went out and found that I had a few more tomatoes “hanging” on, waiting for me to get my lazy behind out there and pick.

McGuyver and I took the Log Hog (log splitter) out in our backyard and split some wood for our fire pit and fireplace.

 

I let Dennis run the splitter…That thing looks like something I could really hurt myself with…no doubt.  I do the stacking of wood…and I’m sure I’m not doing that quite according to Den’s specifications…but I do work cheap.

It is beginning to look like fall around here….but someone better tell our Hybiscus…This thing is prolific as all Heck.  I swear I have had at least 50 blossoms so far on that plant…

 

 

That pink flowered plant would be our thriving Hybiscus..Notice how far away the pumpkin is staying from it…I think Mr. Pumpkinhead finds Ms. Hybiscus a bit looney, being known as a tropical plant and all.  I thought I heard that pumpkin whisper to the Mum plant..”Pay no attention to that flashy flower..just pray for an early frost”… 

 

 

 

 

Above, left, is our Tiger Eye Sumac as it looked last October…pretty bushy and full…On the right is the same Sumac just yesterday,…McGuyver gave it a real close haircut with his chain saw….It was becoming so full, it was taking over the sidewalk, and making a run for the street beyond…It should be starting to turn orange in a few weeks…LOVE IT!!

Last night, Dennis and I enjoyed a campfire on our deck….while trying to stay out of “Hummingbird WAR” range..We have 2 feeders hanging on our deck and there were about 3 Hummers vying for best dibs on the food…They were dive bombing each other like jets in a dogfight.  I could hear them zooming around my head… a little disarming.  I had visions of wearing one for a hair barrette at any moment….

These photos are NOT my best..I am still trying to figure out our new camera… I need to tap into some of Al or Judy's photography knowledge….I think I need one of those old box cameras they had in the 50’s…point and click..WALA!

 

 

 

I do know that this is a Goldfinch…but not sure if it is a female…or a fading male..(I’m hoping for the latter…It’s about time some of these brightly dressed male birds let the females show off a little!)

 

 

 

 

McGuyver is checking our weather on his phone..I’m checking my drink, making sure  it isn’t empty yet..

As you can see, things are pretty easy going around here…Dennis and I are just chilling out on our deck and loving the Fall…I have all my Halloween stuff out…Now all I need is a skull mug instead of a Xmas one, …no… REALLY!!!

I DO HAVE A SKULL CANDLE…GEE, IMAGINE THAT….

“From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us! “
~Scottish Saying